Scrapbook
by ArinaMaron
Summary: A collection of snapshots centered around the daily lives of Kakashi and Sakura. Ch. 4 (Prompt written for KakaSaku Month 2018): Attention. In which Kakashi and Sakura become stranded in a downpour.
1. Family Reunion

**Day One of KakaSaku Week.**

 **Theme: Salty**

* * *

If there was something Haruno Sakura hated dearly, it was family reunions. Meeting her relatives annually, who just couldn't give a damn about her usually was always a pain in the lower part of her backside. So, when one evening her mother came over to her place and announced that her grandma and grandpa Chiaki were expecting for her to attend said gathering, she desperately tried to find an excuse. She did not have any mission scheduled for at least two weeks, and was off the hospital roster for the time being. Sakura didn't even try to lie to her mother, knowing far too well that it wouldn't have a pretty outcome. Mebuki knew her daughter like the back of her hand; she could tell when Sakura wasn't telling the truth in a matter of seconds. Her mother also insisted on bringing Kakashi as well, stating that it was about time for the family to see that she was _indeed_ in a relationship. Like it was so unbelievable or something.

The medic visited her supposedly inexistent boyfriend not long after. She started immediately rambling about how her mother forced her to go, even though she knew that her one and only daughter absolutely _loathed_ them. How Sakura managed to dodge these invitations for the past 5 years with regularly having missions and the occasional saving of the world responsibilities. That her mother's side of the family were your average civilians, who failed to understand the notions and merits of being a shinobi. That even though she was the second best medic on this goddamn continent and defeated a god, her merits still paled in comparison to her cousin's. How her uncles and aunts taunted her for still being unmarried at the age of 21.

The Rokudaime Hokage sat at his desk, patiently listening to what his girlfriend told him animatedly, pacing around his office. Though these problems that she was talking about were completely foreign to him, he did understand that what they said about her, about what she choose to do with her life was really important for her. After all, these were her choices, and if they had a sour face while being reminded of them, she felt hurt.

But on the other hand, Kakashi felt jealous. He did not have close relatives that would invite him, coax him into attending such kind of events, worry about how he was doing and so on. Unlike Sakura, he couldn't share anecdotes about how he battled his cousins during winter, in knee-length snow, or climbed neckbreakingly high on trees and almost falling down. These moments would be forever absent from his life.

"And now mom wants me to bring you as well, because apparently these idiots are starting to think that you do not exist." She flopped down on the plush chair in front of his desk, clearly out of breath. "And to be frank, _I_ would really like you to come. God knows what I'd to without you."

Kakashi wanted to say yes immediately. To be honest, he wanted to see how such kind of events looked like, to experience the whole thing first handed. He tried to keep it cool, tried not to seem as enthusiastic about it as he really was.

"Well, it'll be a bit hard to cajole Shikamaru into letting me leave the village for a few days…" Seeing Sakura's hopeful gaze fell made him quickly add the rest of the sentence. "But I can manage."

The brilliant grin and the kisses she rewarded him with felt really nice.

…

Her first cousin, the daughter of her mother's brother was everything that Sakura wasn't in her grandparent's eyes. Watanabe –formerly Chiaki- Noriko was beautiful and talented…or so did they say. While Sakura failed to master playing any kind of classical instrument, Noriko excelled at both playing the violin and the harp. She also was an excellent cook at the age of _twelve_ while in the meantime Sakura almost burned their kitchen down during one of her exploits into preparing scrambled eggs. Noriko by the way could knit…anything. Sakura? Let's just say that she was better at using sharp objects to draw blood. Her cousin married at the age of 17 and already had _three_ children. Did she mention that they were both 21?

It was really amazing how different they were…and even though Sakura realized a long time ago that her achievements would always pale in comparison to those of Noriko, it hurt nonetheless.

So, it was an understatement to say that the pink haired medic absolutely _loathed_ her cousin, who sometimes was painted as her better, more improved version. And Noriko's behavior didn't make things better either. The problem was that the girl had a quite big ego, and always looked down upon Sakura. So, even though they never really addressed the situation, they always felt salty in each other's presence.

…

Mebuki's hometown was situated on the Southern coast of Fire. It's citizens were either fishermen or merchants who usually traded with Wave. The Chiaki family was one of the latter, and probably the wealthiest amongst the settlement's citizens. Sakura's parents met when Kizashi was sent on a mission to said town.

"It was love at first sight." Her mother stated dreamily, as they traveled toward the coast. Kakashi grinned underneath his mask as he saw his girlfriend roll her eyes in total annoyance.

"My parents were of course completely against the whole relationship. They already chose someone for me to marry." Mebuki continued, completely oblivious to the fact that Sakura mouthed the exact same words. She heard the story at least a thousand times by now.

"But we didn't listen and I left town when Kizashi's mission was over. We soon married and then welcomed her into the world." She patted Sakura's head, like she was still a little girl. "My parents severed all connections with me until Sakura's birth. And they still have a condescending look on their face when they are reminded of the fact that I married a shinobi…and that my daughter followed in his footsteps."

"Good thing that I couldn't care less about their opinion." Sakura shrugged, though they all knew that she was lying.

The Chiaki family compound was close to the beach, Kakashi could taste the salty air even through his mask. The central building of the complex was a three story family house. The stone walls around it were so tall, that he would've to jump in order to see what was behind them.

An old woman greeted them the moment they entered the house. Her almost snow white hair was in a braided up do and her green eyes, that were framed by glasses were the exact same shade as Sakura's. The black qipao dress she was wearing had a red seahorse embroidered on its front. It was the Chiaki family crest.

"Mebuki, Sakura-chan!" She hobbled over to them, hugging both women tightly. "Kizashi." Her demeanor changed completely, though she tried to hide the fact. Said man nodded curtly and kissed the back of her hand. "And who's this young man?" Her green eyes looked expectantly at Kakashi.

"He's Hatake Kakashi, grandmother. He's my boyfriend."

"A boyfriend? I thought that you'll never have one!" She laughed. "Good thing that we have spare rooms!"

In the end Kakashi and Sakura were given separate rooms. Her grandparents obviously didn't believe in a couple sharing a bed before marriage. Too bad that they didn't count on the fact that both him and Sakura were shinobi.

After they all got settled in their rooms, Sakura showed him around the house, commenting on some pieces of furniture and decorations. As they passed by the kitchen, they got ambushed by her grandmother.

"She wants to interrogate you." Sakura whispered.

"Come in and have some tea." She ushered them inside. "I hope that you like black tea Hatake-san. It's freshly imported from the Land of Tea." She said, preparing the drink. "And what do you do for a living?"

"Here it goes." Sakura muttered so that only he could hear.

"I'm the Hokage."

"Hm…is that a ninja thing as well?" Grandma Chiaki raised a brow.

"Yes." Kakashi crinkled his eyes, deeply amused by how oblivious the older woman was to 'ninja things'.

"He's Konoha's leader, grandmother." Sakura translated patiently.

"Like a mayor?"

"Like a mayor." The pink haired woman replied in resignation. She clearly gave up on having them understand the ninja world.

"And how did you meet?" She set two cups in front of them.

"Well…" Kakashi began.

"We were teammates and worked together a lot." His girlfriend answered diplomatically. Her grandmother would clearly misunderstand the true circumstances of their relationship. After all, civilians always had a more traditional mindset.

"I see. And when do you plan on getting married?

"Grandmother!" A faint red line appeared across Sakura's cheeks.

"What? You are already 21 years old, Sakura. 21! Noriko already has three children! Not to mention that even Takashi's going to be a father pretty soon. You are the only one amongst your cousins who doesn't have children." It was clear that her grandmother's words clearly upset Sakura.

"We've been dating for only a few months…we agreed on not rushing things." Was Kakashi's diplomatic reply.

"You should still consider marrying as soon as possible." Her green eyes landed on the clock mounted on one of the walls. "Noriko and her family should arrive pretty soon. Aren't you happy that you can meet her after so many years?"

"I'm exhilarated, grandmother." He almost started laughing at how painfully fake her smile was.

"Poor Noriko, since they cannot afford to hire some extra help at the shop, she has to work there as well, also take care of the children, not to mention the daily chores in the house!" Grandma Chiaki shook her head. "But she still manages to hold her place. I just can't imagine how hard it is for her." She rested her right hand above her heart. Kakashi could see his girlfriend's jaw setting, probably trying to stop herself for saying something not so nice.

"Actually Sakura has to do 48 hour shifts on a weekly basis at the hospital, not to mention her daily exploits in the ER. We could've lost so many great shinobi without her help." He mused with a nonchalant air around him.

"Oh really?" Grandma Chiaki asked surprised after a few heartbeats of silence. "I never knew that you were so busy…you should really tell your boss to give you some time off…spending all of your time there. No wonder you are not married!" She sighed, hobbling back to the stove.

He felt her grabbing his hand, squeezing it gently. "I saw what you did there." Sakura whispered.

"Did what?"

"Thanks…but as you can see, it was quite futile." She laughed, kissing his masked cheek.

…

He finally met Sakura's favorite cousin a few hours later. She had long, sandy blonde hair which was in a high ponytail. Her green eyes were sparkling, but their shade wasn't as nice as Sakura's. She had a voluptuous figure, something that most men absolutely loved about women. But it paled in comparison to Sakura's lithe figure.

"I'm Watanabe Noriko." She outstretched her hand, expecting him to kiss it or something…which he promptly did, earning a discreet eye roll from Sakura.

"Nice to meet you, Watanabe-san." Kakashi crinkled his eye, but she could see it even through his mask that it was only superficial. Sakura was pleased. "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

"Oh, just call me Noriko!" Her stupid giggles always made the pink haired woman's desire to just shove some solid objects down her throat resurface.

"Hotkage-sama!" She winked her pretty green eyes.

"It's _Hokage_." Sakura gritted.

Noriko just blinked at her slowly, a look of utter confusion and innocence on her annoyingly pretty face. Like she didn't just blatantly flirt with her boyfriend in her presence.

"Did I say something wrong?" Oh, her fists were practically twitching with the want to show her what her problem was.

"Nothing at all, Noriko."

The blonde was about to say something, but one of her (rather cute) spawns started calling for her. "Oh, my youngest needs me. Sometimes I just got _so_ many things to do, that I completely forget that it's feeding time." Noriko laughed, delicately flicking her wrist to look at her watch. "See you later." She swayed her hips seductively while she walked away.

"You know, it never fails to amaze me how she can prove to me each and every time that I can hate her even more." Her musings earned a soft chuckle from Kakashi.

"She is a fairly entertaining person."

"Annoying. She's a fairly annoying person."

"You know, you are really not like her." She started to look upset because of his words and was about to reply, but he put his index finger on her lips. "In my humble opinion, she pales in comparison to you. I highly doubt that she can punch as hard as you. Or save as many lives." His finger caressed her cheek. "And what's most important…" Her breath got caught in her throat, eagerly awaiting his next words. "You have better legs."

Sakura punched his arm lightly, but kissed him nonetheless.

* * *

 **I think that almost everyone has a relative or an acquaintance to whom they are always compared to, and that no matter how hard they try, they can never live up to them. For Sakura, this person is Noriko. Also, aren't family reunions kind of annoying sometimes?**

 **Thank you really much for reading!**

 **Please review!**


	2. Failure and Success

**Though KakaSaku Week is looooong over, I had this one half complete for a while now. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Prompt: walk of shame / stride of pride**

* * *

She always tried to avoid failure. Someone with a family name like hers should always do so. Not that she minded it, not even a bit. It always made her strive to do better, motivated her to go further and push her limits. One could say that the legacy her parents left behind and were still making would cripple their child when they started to flutter their wings, that they would break under the immense pressure that was put on them. But she was doing fine, all the time.

For the past 6 years, Hatake Rina never understood the worried look her parents gave her when she stepped over the threshold of the Academy. But now…now she understood everything. It might've been because of the severe beating she got, but her shoulders never felt this heavy as she left the ring.

At the age of 11, Hatake Rina failed to become a chuunin. The silver haired girl never thought that the sound of cheers that weren't because of her accomplishments could be so hurtful for her ears. She had her gaze focused on the arena's floor, not even daring to gaze into her father's eyes as she had her walk of shame. She could feel everyone's stare on her, making her feel even more stupid, worthless, incompetent and the list could go on and on.

She was the daughter of the Rokudaime Hokage and the greatest medic to walk the face of the Earth, and yet she failed to follow in their footsteps. Maybe she'll never become a chuunin, staying only a measly genin for the rest of her life. Rina felt her stomach coiling and it took all of her power to put one foot after the other, without collapsing. The medics on the scene offered her to carry her out on a stretcher, but she felt that she'd lose all of her remaining dignity if that would happen. No, Hatake Rina has to leave the scene of her failure on her own two feet.

She just reached the exit, the tall walls of the arena hiding her from the on watchers of the match. The silver haired genin felt dizzy, and her legs kept wobbling with each step she made. Her small, slightly bloody hands rested on the wall next to her, desperate to hold something that would not let her fall. But her brain slowly started shutting down and she finally succumbed to her injuries, collapsing onto the tiled floor.

…

The unusually strong smell of disinfectant roused her from her sleep. This smell that everyone associated with injuries and hospital for her was the smell of home. It reminded the young kunoichi of her mother, who always carried this scent with her after a long workday. So, before she could even think over what she wanted to say, her mouth opened and formed two syllables.

"Mama?" Her voice was hoarse and her throat was painfully dry. She scolded herself, because she was too old to address her mother like that. Not even her 9 years old brother called her like that. Rina felt a soft hand caressing the top of her head, probably making her already disheveled hair even a bigger mess. Green eyes slowly cracked open, meeting identical ones.

"How are you feeling, Rina-chan?"

Ashamed. Guilty. A failure. That's how she felt, because even though her whole body was aching like never before, they were overshadowed by aforementioned feelings. But how could she tell this to her mother? Moreover, she felt that if she starts speaking about the events of the exam, she'll start crying. And Hatake Rina was too old to cry, not to mention that ninja were not allowed to show such kind of emotions. But what if she's not fit to become one? The 11 year old girl could still vividly recall the feeling of having the gaze of hundreds of people on her, while she left the ring. It felt like acid, and all she wanted to do was to curl up in a small ball. She had no right to call herself a shinobi.

"You did a wonderful job, sweetie." Her mother caressed her cheek.

"What?" Rina could not believe her ears.

"You did really well."

"But…but…I…" Her chapped lips started quivering. Not even biting down hard on them did stop the tears from falling down.

"Oh honey." Her mother enveloped her in a hug before she realized what happened. "You shouldn't feel so upset about it." She cooed, rubbing her back in circles. The motions did not stop the girl from crying, instead it made her sadness intensify.

How could her mother lie to her? How could she say that she wasn't disappointed in her? In a way she was glad that it was impossible to see the expression her mother sported while saying these words.

"I…I…f-ailed." Rina's words were barely intelligible between her sobs.

Sighing, her mother grabbed the silver haired girl's shoulders and gently pushed her back, so that they were facing each other.

"You might have been defeated, but that does not mean that you failed." Rina's eyes widened at the older woman's words. How could any of this make sense? She lost, but she didn't at the same time? It was just too hard for her to wrap her weary mind around it.

"Do you know what's the purpose of the Chuunin Exams?" The question sounded utterly ridiculous; of course she knew the answer to it!

"It's for genin to become chuunin."

"Yes…but the board that decides who gets promoted is curious about what the participating genin _know._ They organize the matches in order to see what kind of skills the genin have, are they strong and smart enough to get promoted?"

"But I've…I've shown them nothing." Rina hiccupped.

"What your mother means is that one might get a promotion even if they didn't defeat someone, just gave them a hard time." The young girls turned her head towards the entrance of her room, green eyes locking on the man standing there. Her father.

Suddenly the weight that formed in the pit of her stomach increased tenfold, making it virtually impossible for her to utter even a single word. But in a way she was grateful for that, she was far too ashamed to talk to her father. He started walking towards her bed, closing the door. He wasn't wearing his Hokage garbs, only the standard ninja uniform that was usually covered by it. It was like he wasn't visiting her as Hokage, but as an ordinary shinobi, as her father.

"The matches are over." He said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed where her mother was.

"Who won?" Rina's voice was barely a whisper. His big hand wrapped around her smaller one, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"In the end it does not matter who won the matches."

"How could it not matter? When…" She was about to cry again, but right now was not the time to do so. She did not want to further disappoint her father. "When only the victors could get promoted. And I failed…"

"We are not disappointed in you, Rina. Not even a bit." Her mother rubbed the genin's back in circles again.

"In fact, we are really proud of you. And it doesn't matter that you got promoted or not, we will support you anyway." She looked at her father with wide eyes. Even though his face was covered by his trademark mask, she could see that he was not lying, that his words were genuine.

An enormous wave of relief washed over her. Right then it did not matter that she got defeated by her opponent, or that she still remained a genin. What _did_ matter was the fact that her parents didn't hate her for failing, that they weren't upset. Suddenly overwhelmed by all kinds of different emotions, Rina hugged her parents as strongly as she could. They both laughed, kissing the top of her head.

"It's still not official, but I have the list of chuunin." Her father said after she released them.

"Out of 21 participants, only three got promoted." Rina prepared herself for the slight tinge of jealousy she would inevitably feel, but she'll try to be happy nonetheless for the winners. Hopefully some of her friends made it.

"Kanzaburou from Suna," Rina grimaced after hearing that name. The boy was Kankurou's son and the one who defeated her with his stupid puppets. "-Nara Shikadai…and Hatake Rina from Konoha."

"M…e, me?" She pointed a shaking finger at herself, unable to comprehend what was happening. "But how? I mean… Kanzaburou beat me, so how can I…"

"Because you almost defeated him." Her mother spoke up. "After Lee-sensei called off the match and while you left the ring, he collapsed and is still unconscious. But the both of you showed the kind of skills that are worthy of promotion."

"So that's what you meant by losing but winning at the same time?"

"Yes."

Rina felt like jumping up in her bed, and doing a little victory dance, but she refused for the time being. Right now she just wanted to express the gratitude she felt towards her parents, so she hugged them again. Because they taught her that success didn't necessarily mean everything.


	3. The Fifth Installment

**Merry belated Christmas to everyone! Here's a snippet of a conversation over the telephone between our favorite couple!**

* * *

" _How are the kids?"_

"They are playing." He stated, oversimplifying the scene before him. His two elder children, Rina and Susumu were arguing about something, while Makoto and Koutarou enacted a battle scene between pirates with rubber swords. It was actually business as usual inside the Hatake household. Minus the fact that his beloved wife wasn't sitting in the grey armchair beside the fireplace, reading a book.

" _Did you give them dinner?"_

"Yes, I did."

" _Did Koutarou eat his vegetables?"_

"Yes, though he left a few peas." She only sighed at his response.

" _And did you give Makoto his medicine? He should be taking them until the end of the week."_

"Of course." Kakashi chuckled, fairly amused by his interrogator's persistence.

" _Are you laughing at me?"_ Came the incredulous question from the woman on the other end of the line.

"It's just that you've been away only since the day before yesterday. It's not like I can't take care of the children for a few days."

" _Sorry."_

"For what?" He furrowed his brows

" _That it's Christmas Eve and I'm not home with you guys."_

"Sakura…it's not your fault that things turned out to be like this besides, it's just a silly date in the calendar…we can always make up for it after you're home."

" _I shouldn't have taken this stupid mission."_ He could imagine the glare she was certainly sporting right now.

"Yes…but then that teen would've died without that new heart."

" _I know."_ Sakura muttered. _"By the way…did you know that 68% of the Land of Earth's population has affinity with Earth Release, yet they are incapable of digging a normal tunnel system inside their mountains?"_ By now she was most certainly pacing around the room. _"Because if they would have those stupid tunnels, people could actually travel in this godforsaken country even when it snows!"_

He winced slightly at the volume of her outburst, distancing the phone from his ear.

" _I'm stuck here until the end of times!"_

"According to the weather forecast, the storm would be over in a few hours." He explained patiently to his wife. Winter was never a good season to visit the Land of Earth, the country being prone to severe storms that made travel practically impossible. It was a miracle in itself that they could hold a conversation through the telephone in such conditions.

"That hurt!" Rina screamed, chasing Koutarou around the room, waving a rubber sword at him, while Susumu and Makoto rolled with laughter at the scene unfolding in front of them.

"Cut it out you two." Thanks to previous experiences, Kakashi learned that it was better to stop such kind of squabbles before any of their furniture or children suffered any harm.

"But dad! He hit me in the head with this stupid sword." Rina whined, pointing at his little brother with said object.

"It's still not okay for you to chase each other around the house like that."

" _Hello?_ " He heard Sakura's faint voice from the speaker of the phone hanging loosely from his hand.

"Apologize to your sister, Kou." His son only pouted at his words but gave in when he saw Kakashi's stern expression.

" _Hello? Kakashi?_ "

"Sorry, Rina-chan." The silver-haired girl hesitated a bit but handed the sword back to her brother with a smile.

" _Can you hear me?_ " Kakashi brought the receiver back to his mouth, shaking his head.

"Sorry, the kids had a small fight."

" _Again? Was it Rina and Susumu?"_

"No, it was Kou and Rina, but nothing serious." Sakura only sighed at his answer.

" _They can really be a handful, huh? I can't believe it that we are having a fifth one."_

"Yeah." Grinning, he looked at the four children in front of him. Four children. Not five but four. Surely Sakura knew that they had four kids? She must be tired from all the traveling and lifesaving she had to do. Still, Kakashi felt the urge to point out her mistake.

"Sakura, we have four children."

" _Well…this might not be the right time to tell you, but…"_ The line started cracking. _"I'm two months pregnant."_ Her voice faded in and out, but to him, the words were deafening.

The first thought that ran through his mind was the joy, the joy of becoming a father for the fifth time. But then, as it was customary with Hatake Kakashi, anxiety overpowered every thought. Because by the time this child would be born, he'll be 48 years old. People would normally have grandchildren at that age… He'll be almost 70 when the child reaches 20.

" _An- -o you- not t-o ol- to be a fa-er a-in."_ The cracking in the line became more and more frequent. Yet it did relay Sakura's message clearly: that he wasn't too old to be a father again. Honestly, he had the same worries when he received the news of Sakura being pregnant with Rina at the age of 37, he felt even more anxious at 39 with Susumu, then at 42 with Koutarou and respectively with Makoto at 43 he almost drank himself to death. However, these four were (not forgetting his lovely wife) the best things that ever happened to him.

Kakashi was quite sure, even before reaching his mid-twenties, that he'll never have a family, that supposing he reaches a fairly old age (which was quite unlikely considering his history of deathly injuries) he'll have no one to take care of him, or even notice his passing. And then a whirlwind of pink came and brought his already planned out future upside down. This whirlwind brought him things that the man thought he would never have, and never deserved.

He was so engulfed in his thoughts, that he barely even registered the fact that the line was disconnected after a loud crack.

Maybe it wasn't that bad to be a father in his extremely late 40's.


	4. Attention

**My God, I'm alive! I've been MIA for quite some time now (not that I was that active beforehand), but I'm back guys! I'm looking forward to a more active summer writing-wise. So, here's my belated first entry to KakaSaku Month! Please check out the other wonderful entries for this month!**

* * *

 **KakaSaku Month 2018**

 **Week 1**

 **Day1: Skinny dipping - or -** _Rainstorm_

* * *

"How much time do we have left?" The man whispered; a hint of urgency in his deep voice. The woman by his side only sighed at his inquiry, delicately flicking her wrist to look at her watch.

Her green eyes cast an annoyed look at him. "Exactly five minutes have passed since you last asked the same question."

"Maa Sakura-chan, are you sure your watch works right? I'm quite certain that 30 minutes is more precise."

"Just one more hour and we can leave, okay?" Her tone resembled the one mothers used when talking to their impatient child. The pout Kakashi gave her might as well have belonged to one. Right now he was a 33 years old child…a child with very dangerous skills.

The next 60 minutes were practically unbearable in Sakura's humble opinion. Holding up polite conversations with foreign diplomats while having a slightly cranky Hokage by your side was not ideal. She knew that she brought this disaster upon herself: the pink haired medic forbade him the reading of his favourite book series during the event and right now Kakashi's philosophy was that if he has to suffer then she should too.

When the time to leave finally came, Sakura wanted nothing more than to entwine her hands in a prayer and thank the gods in the skies for putting an end to her suffering. Too bad that she was far from being finished. Since this was an event that required formal attire, she was sporting an ankle length evening gown and heels that were high enough for her to feel rather uncomfortable in them. It was quite unfair if you took into consideration the fact that Kakashi had to show up only in his Hokage robes. The venue was several blocks away from their hotel and they had to walk by foot towards their destination.

It started to rain just when they were about to step outside. People were running towards each and every direction on the street, in desperate need of a shelter. The sudden change in weather didn't surprise her. The sweltering summer heat made everything that much more unbearable and Sakura was glad that the rain would give freshness to the previously suffocating air. What she was not so happy about was the fact that they were stuck under a gateway until the downpour stopped.

"See, that's why I wanted to go." Kakashi stated matter-of-factly, his back against the wall.

She looked incredulously at him, her green eyes narrowing into slits. "Right. It wasn't because you hate such kind of events."

He just tapped his nose with a gloved hand. "I could smell the rain the moment we stepped out of our hotel."

"And then why didn't you say anything?! I could've brought an umbrella or a raincoat with me." She could feel herself becoming more and more frustrated with the man standing next to her.

"Did you even pack an umbrella?" He knew the answer even before she could respond.

"Well…" Sakura opened then closed her mouth, trying to find some kind of proper comeback. In all honesty, she never thought that their few day stay would warrant for her to prepare like this. After all, these kinds of summits were mostly held indoors. Not to mention that her tiny suitcase was already filled with a bunch of clothes and shoes, and there was just no more space for her to squeeze in an umbrella. "…the weather forecast never said anything about rain." She raised her chin.

"I see."

She puffed out her cheeks and checked her wristwatch. They have been standing here for almost ten minutes now, but the rain just wouldn't let up. She looked down the street and could see the topmost floor of their hotel in the distance, Sakura even started contemplating about just running towards the building, but then she would certainly get soaked in seconds. And while she had countless missions during rainstorms, she was sometimes even fighting an opponent in ankle deep mud, it didn't mean that off missions she liked to do the same.

"It'll stop soon." Kakashi waved nonchalantly. As if Mother Nature heard his statement it started raining even harder, the small canals beside the sidewalks becoming full of water. "Or maybe not."

"I swear that this was the last time that I came with you." Sakura let out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the wall opposite of Kakashi. Her feet were killing her, and her bare arms and shoulders were full of goosebumps due to the chilly air.

"That's what you said the last time as well." She could tell by his voice that he was smirking.

"I'll keep my word this time, that's for sure." Sakura folded her arms under her chest and then looked to the side, observing the rain.

"It wouldn't be the same without you." He said it so quietly, that she almost didn't hear him. She looked at him with unmasked surprise. While they did become closer in this past couple of years, especially since he became Hokage, it wasn't typical for them to vocalize such kind of things. They usually let their actions speak for themselves. She felt immense happiness about what he said, that even though she might be a bit overbearing at times, he liked to attend these meetings with her.

"I might've exaggerated a bit before. I actually really like accompanying you." He gave her a surprised look as if he was completely caught off guard by what she said.

He took a few steps towards her and wrapped a part of his Hokage robe around her.

"You've been shivering ever since it started raining." Kakashi explained offhandedly.

"Thanks." She smiled up at him, feeling instantly warm. Although it wasn't only because of the robe draped around her. The fabric was big enough to fit two people under it, but only if said persons stood really close against each other. So close that she could practically feel his body heat radiating off of him, and even smell his cologne faintly. In all honesty, Sakura was starting to feel too warm, even uncomfortably so to a certain extent. At the same time, it's been a while since she felt this good.

"You looked lovely today, if I may add." Surprised, she looked at his masked profile, trying to discern some kind of emotion, but she failed to do so.

"Thanks." The sudden feeling of giddiness was starting to become a frequent result of her interactions with Kakashi. She felt really pleased by his compliment, to be honest when they met in the lobby of the hotel before going to the venue of the meeting, and when he didn't say anything about her dress she was disappointed. This might've been partially the reason why she was so cranky the whole day. But who could blame her? In her humble opinion, this dress was the most beautiful one she has ever owned. The fuchsia coloured garment complimented the tone of her skin and her hair, while its empire line helped to accentuate her modest chest. When she choose this dress she had Kakashi in her mind for whatever reason, she hoped that he would make a remark on her appearance. Why? She couldn't really explain the reason behind it, or more precisely didn't want to, but in recent times she was constantly fishing for his attention.

Initially, she thought that it was because of her complex from her genin days. Having two students who were quite a handful made Kakashi pay lesser attention to Sakura. While it hurt back then, she thought that she was long over it. And she really was…Kakashi has stated several times how proud he is of her. The problem is that recently Sakura wasn't longing for his attention regarding her professional skills. She rather wanted him to acknowledge that she was a woman. And while she often tried to find the real reason behind it, she wasn't prepared yet to go down on that road.

Her thoughts were becoming more jumbled the longer she pondered on everything that has been going on in the past couple of months. It didn't help that the person who caused all this confusion was standing barely an inch away from her. Sakura started wishing for the weather to let up a bit so that they could finally leave the gateway. It wasn't raining as intensely as before, but it was enough for anyone to get soaked the moment they stepped out of their shelters.

"Can you run in those shoes?"

She furrowed her brows at his question. "No way, they are already killing me." Sakura looked at the black strappy heels that boosted her height a couple of inches.

"I see. I thought that maybe we could make a run for it under the robe."

Instead of replying, Sakura bent down and unstrapped the heels, collecting them in her left hand. She looked at the man standing beside her, giving him a nod. They both grabbed the edge of the robe and raised it above their heads. Kakashi wrapped his free hand around her waist, securing her against his side. At the count of three, the two shinobi left the safety of the gateway and started running towards the hotel.

Her bare feet padded along the wet sidewalk, but it wasn't unpleasant. The asphalt was still warm from the heat of the day, making the cold rain against it feel really nice. But his wasn't the only thing that was pleasant. Having Kakashi's steady grip around her waist was something that made all kinds of things to the pit of her stomach. She glanced up at Kakashi, meeting his gaze. He crinkled his dark grey eyes at her, making her instantly return his smile.

One might think that their situation was quite miserable since they were running in the rain, hunched under a robe, but to her, it was strangely idyllic. Sakura couldn't help but to slow her pace, wanting to prolong this moment as long as she could. She was certain that Kakashi noticed, but he didn't make a remark about it.

They both kept running towards the hotel like this, even as the rain stopped a few minutes afterward.


	5. Road Trip

**Though a bit late, but here's my second entry for KakaSaku Month!**

 **I was listening to Fromm's Milan Blue while writing this. Such a relaxing song!**

* * *

 **KakaSaku Month 2018**

 **Day 2: Road Trip - or - Camping**

* * *

Their 10th wedding anniversary had passed uneventfully. Though it was no one's fault, they didn't forget the date. It's just that they were both quite preoccupied with other things, and didn't have the proper time to actually celebrate. They didn't even sit down and talk about postponing the celebration, it was just evident that this is how they would proceed.

Nonetheless Kakashi started searching for the best way to commemorate this special occasion, even if belatedly so. He came up with an idea quite fast. Ever since their first child, Rina was born they never went on a really long trip together. And while they barely left the country borders, sans for the occasional missions, hundreds of miles of paved roads were constructed all over the continent, making travelling that easier. Civilians were going on so called road trips, where they travelled around different regions with a car and stopped wherever they wanted to. With a couple of days of research he drew up an itinerary, reserved all the needed accommodations and even rented out a car. He even managed to persuade Sakura to go without the kids.

As much as he loved his children, Kakashi felt that they had to go on this trip without them. They never went on a trip alone after their honeymoon, and he wanted to change that now. So during their two week long trip, their four kids would stay at Sakura's parents' place.

They started their journey on a Monday morning, heading towards the north-eastern part of Fire, and then crossing the border to the Land of Hot Water in the second half of the week, where they'll spend the rest of their vacation.

"So, where are we going?" Sakura asked the moment they left the village.

His maskless lips quirked into a smile. "You'll see."

She just puffed out her cheeks, looking out the window. The road went along a densely forested area, the tall trees casting shadows over them. While the area was familiar to both of them, since they crossed this very forest countless of times during their past missions, Kakashi couldn't bring himself to just drive past this section in a hurry. In the past they just ran straightforward, not really paying attention to the beauty of their surroundings. In those times the lushness of the vegetation only meant that the enemy could hide easily away from them, while thick branches of the trees helped them to travel faster to their mission's location. However this time they didn't rush. This trip was all about taking their time and enjoying the world around them.

Sakura pulled down the window, sticking out her hand. The radio played a soft acoustic melody to which she hummed along. It's been probably months since he saw her this relaxed. While she wasn't going on missions since their third child was born, she did run the biggest hospital in the country and held weekly seminars for the medical students at the Academy. Her schedule was busy to say the least, but she always managed to do everything, stunning him each and every time.

They stopped after three hours of driving at a cosy little inn, not far away from a popular tourist spot. Kakashi pulled out a basket from the trunk, grabbing Sakura's hand with his free one.

"When did you pack that?"

"Yesterday night." He grinned.

"And may I know our destination this time?"

"You'll find out soon enough, just pay attention." She only furrowed her brows at his response.

Sure enough, after a few minutes they could hear the all too familiar sound of water running. They both quickened their pace and were welcomed by a waterfall in the middle of a clearing.

"This is gorgeous." Sakura exclaimed. "How did you find this place?"

"I did a bit of research." He shrugged, laying out a blanket on the grass. Okay, so maybe he was a bit oversimplifying his efforts. It took him quite some time to find this place. While the region was a popular tourist place because of a nearby village with vernacular architecture, he didn't want to visit those places right away. He wanted to spend as much alone time with Sakura as he could. So after some digging he found this waterfall that apparently wasn't that well known.

"Thank you." She pecked him on the lips.

Kakashi dug out a wine bottle from the basket and opened it, pouring out the dark liquid into two glasses.

"I see you are going all out, Kakashi-san." His wife chuckled, clinking her glass with his.

"You have no idea." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning a playful slap on the arm from Sakura.

They spent the next couple of days with hiking, both enjoying the scenery and how they didn't have to hurry anywhere. On the fifth day of their trip they continued travelling further north with their car, the border with the Land of Hot Water becoming closer. Kakashi couldn't wait to see Sakura's happy face when they'll arrive to the onsen he choose. He knew that she absolutely loved hot springs, and according to the recommendations this was one of the best.

"I'm sorry, but we do not have a reservation under your name." The middle aged receptionist said, with the enthusiasm of a snail.

"What do you mean? I booked a room three weeks ago."

The man looked sceptically at Kakashi and then back at the register, turning the pages slowly. "There is no Hatake written here."

"And do you have a room available?"

The receptionist turned back the pages, looking over each entry with as much disinterest one could manage. "No."

"What do you mean no?" Kakashi felt his temper flaring, the apparent indifference of the man in front of him just oil on the fire. "I-" He leaned forward, over the counter, wanting to take out his frustration on him, but then he felt Sakura's hands on both of his shoulders, instantly making him relax.

"Thank you. Goodbye then." Sakura smiled, guiding him out from the building.

"You are welcome. Please visit us next time as well." Drawled the receptionist detachedly.

"How rude." Kakashi grumbled, trying with all his might not to cuss.

"It's okay, Kakashi. We can always find another inn to stay at." His wife smiled reassuringly, guiding them towards one on the other side of the road.

The only problem was that each place was fully booked, thanks to a religious festival that started two days ago. In addition it was too late for them to drive to another village, so they decided to camp for the night.

"This is so nostalgic." She murmured as they were collecting branches for the campfire. Seeing his lack of reaction, Sakura poked him in the arm. "What's wrong?"

"This isn't how I planned it to be. We should be eating sashimi and miso soup by now." He grumbled.

"To be honest, I like it how things turned out." They both dumped the twigs into a pile. "Besides, we can do all that tomorrow. Nothing disastrous happened." She gave him a side hug, her green eyes looking up to him.

"So you think it's nostalgic, huh?" Kakashi smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Definitely. It reminds me of all the missions we had together."

"Yes, but this time we don't have to withstand Naruto's snoring."

"God, I get chills just by remembering those nights." Sakura rested her forehead on his chest, laughing at the memories. "What are you doing?" She looked up at him as he was guiding them towards the car.

"I just thought that some music would be nice." He reached inside the car through the open window and turned the radio on. The same song from the beginning of their trip started to play. They both started swaying gently to the rhythm of the music.

"This is nice." She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes.

They were dancing under the moonlight, in the middle of a clearing. The scenario was so simple compared to what he had planned for. Yet to him this seemed to be much more intimate and memorable. He couldn't help but to cup Sakura's face into his hands and capture her lips in a searing kiss.


	6. Stargazing

**A bit late though, but here's my next prompt for KakaSaku Month. It's a quite short piece, with only a short interaction between our favorite couple, but hopefully you'll like it.**

 **The music I had on repeat during writing was Hold the Moon by FT Island.**

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 **KakaSaku Month 2018**

 **Week 1, Day 3: Stargazing**

* * *

Sakura woke up feeling uncomfortably hot, a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. Even though the flap of the tent she shared with the other female members of Konoha 11 was open, it didn't help. Instead of staring at the ceiling she decided to go outside. Her body was aching from all the work she had to do in this past couple of months, in fact, she never really had the chance to fully recover from the war.

After the Infinite Tsukuyomi was dispelled they had to tend to their injured and bury those who have fallen immediately. And then there was all the rebuilding after the war, which also warranted the help of every able bodied person. In addition, the humid summers so typical of Fire and the cots they had to sleep on made everything even worse.

She strolled along the narrow paths between rows upon rows of tents, occasionally faintly hearing the snoring of their occupants. It seemed that except for her everyone else was sleeping peacefully. Sakura felt fairly entertained by this fact, however unlikely it was. While the presence of her friends helped her with coping with all that has transpired during the war, she often felt suffocated by the multitude of people around her. Whatever she did and wherever she went there were people everywhere. Having to live in such close quarters with an entire village meant that privacy of any sort was a scarce commodity.

The wee hours of the morning seemed to be the only time when people seemingly disappeared. The narrow streets framed by tents were empty and only the singing of crickets was carried by the warm breeze of the night.

Her midnight strolls initially began because of her inability to sleep due to the warm weather and they persisted because of the peacefulness around her. Her wandering turned to an end when she reached the shore of the Naka River. Here the air seemed to be much cooler, and the dewy grass felt absolutely wonderful against her bare skin as she laid on the ground.

The patchy clouds in the sky revealed a few stars, challenging Sakura to guess which constellation were they part of. She could hear the sound of feet approaching, but she did not bother to look at the person, for she knew fairly well who it was.

He wordlessly laid down beside her, propping his head up with his arms. They didn't acknowledge the presence of the other one verbally since silence was the whole purpose of this scenario. After a fast paced, loud day the calmness that surrounded them was something they both yearned for.

While Sakura came to this place in order to be finally alone, she never regretted the moment when the silver-haired man started joining her in her escapades. His presence did not disturb the tranquillity of the meadow, in fact, he somehow managed to make her be at ease.

It was strange how out of all the people she knew, he was the one who made her feel like this. Yet at the same time, it was apparent that none of her friends beside him would be capable of just staring at the night sky in utter silence.

Sakura took in an awed breath as the myriad of stars finally revealed themselves to her fully. The clouds moved away like a curtain that obstructed the stage, revealing the protagonists to the eager audience. She searched for all the constellations that she knew of, deducing that not even one star was missing. While she did the same thing each time she was lying down like this, Sakura never got bored of it.

The stars were one of many things that she didn't pay attention to before the war. They were never visible in Konoha before due to the lights, while during those nights when she was on a mission, in the middle of nowhere, she did register their presence, but that was all. She had plenty of near-death experiences during her time as a shinobi, but they all paled in comparison to the utter despair she felt during the war. But at least it all managed to put everything into perspective. It was then that she realized how few things she accomplished in her short life that were non-work related. It also dawned on her that she practically wasted more than ten years of her life pining over someone who considered her insignificant.

Sakura liked to think that she truly changed in this past couple of months for the better. She started appreciating the smaller, simpler things in life, like this very moment.

She felt his gaze on her, so she turned her head to the side, their eyes meeting. The half crescent moon illuminated his face, the scar bisecting his left eye and cheek a pale line against his skin. It was still so strange seeing both of his eyes at the same time. Even now, after so many months she was expecting for him to flash the Sharingan, but it never happened.

Sakura often wondered how he felt about not having the Sharingan. Did he miss it, or was he happy that he was finally free of that weight? He told them his story after the war, and it was quite obvious that the red eye wasn't a burden only because it constantly drained him of chakra, but because of the emotions that weighted down on him because of it. She wanted to ask him this question several times but felt the words stuck in her throat. She also didn't have any other occasion to talk to him about it besides their nightly meetings. And to be honest she was afraid to voice her questions during these times, she didn't want to upset him, he might even stop coming because of her nosiness.

Right now Sakura was content with just maintaining the status quo, something told her that she'll have plenty of opportunities in the future to ask him all these things.


	7. Matters of the Heart

**Ladies and Gentlemen, hereby I introduce you Hatake Susumu. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **KakaSaku Month 2018**

 **Week 1, Day 4: Truth or Dare**

* * *

There were a number of responsibilities a parent had toward their child. Loving them unconditionally, even when they did the stupidest things; giving them what was the most essential for them to grow up into healthy, responsible people, for example, chocolate. And then there were the occasional exchanges of wisdom…like today.

Kakashi knew that something was wrong the moment his son entered their house. The chuunin had a weight to his steps and he was looking at the floor. Now, he knew that they received many compliments about how beautiful their home's floorboards were, but he highly doubted that Susumu would be someone to appreciate such kind of things.

"I'm home." The teen mumbled, a sigh following almost immediately. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a pack of instant noodles from one of the hidden corners of the cabinet above his head. He emitted another sigh.

"Your mother won't be happy." Kakashi stated, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen.

His son looked at the plastic wrapping and then shrugged. "Maybe she won't find out?" He had a hopeful look on his face.

"Maybe." The older man walked over to the cabinet and grabbed another pack, throwing it on the counter.

They boiled the water and prepared their respective meals in silence, at least in Kakashi's case, since the silver-haired teen sighed almost every minute.

"Should I be concerned?" He asked calmly when they were sitting at the dinner table.

Susumu looked up from his steaming bowl. "About what?"

Kakashi raised a silver brow; his son was not a great actor. At all.

"Well…" He grabbed some broth with his chopsticks, and then let it fall back into the bowl. "Could you promise that you won't tell anyone?" Kakashi nodded. "Not even mom." His interest in the conversation piqued. Either his son did something really naughty, or probably worse. He nodded once again nonetheless. "Or Rina…definitely not Rina." The teen tried to suppress a shudder, failing miserably.

"You can trust me, son." It was practically impossible for him not to show how amused he was by this conversation. Susumu was never the kind of person to be hesitant in any kind of situation. It might've something to do with his constant rivalry with Rina, his older sister. Thankfully the competition between them never affected their relationship. While the two siblings never outright showed their affection towards each other, it was evident that this was only a façade and the bond the two had ran deeply.

Even though Susumu was apparently really upset by something, Kakashi didn't worry even a bit. He prided himself in knowing how to read his children, and he was quite sure that nothing really serious happened to warrant such kind of behavior from the chuunin in front of him. Considering the age his son was at, detecting the problem was quite easy.

"There's this girl…" Susumu began, staring intently at the steam rising from his bowl.

He knew it! Kakashi started eating, trying to hide the smirk that appeared on his face. Even after the few years, he spent off duty, he was still perceptive enough to know what was bugging his son so much.

"A girl?" Came the question after he swallowed the noodles.

"Yes, a girl." A few drops of the ramen splattered on the surface of the table when Susumu let the picked up noodles drop back into the bowl.

"And what's wrong with this Girl?"

"She's pretty. And she has such beautiful blue eyes." The chuunin started stirring the contents of the bowl with his chopsticks absentmindedly. "And she's nice." Silver brows furrowed, deep in thought. "And makes me feel all these stupid things."

"Oh…that's certainly a…big problem."

"Tell me about it! I'm starting to make a complete idiot out of myself in front of her." The teen started rubbing his face with his palms. "I'm sure by now that she doesn't take me seriously anymore."

"It couldn't be that bad."

"I got a kunai embedded in my butt because I was ogling her during training. In front of her." Susumu's voice was dripping with despair.

"When did this happen?" Kakashi was trying to remember the time his son had such kind of injury, but nothing popped up.

"Two days ago…you didn't know about it because Udon-sensei healed me on the spot."

"Ah."

"My dignity is forever damaged." He groaned. Kakashi decided that now was the right time to share his wisdom with the teen in front of him.

"You know, I constantly embarrassed myself in front of a girl as well." The incredulous look Susumu gave him was priceless. "I wasn't quite the ladies' man back then."

"What happened?" The chuunin straightened from his slouching position.

"It all happened on a summer night, almost twenty years ago." Kakashi began his story, a small smile gracing his lips. "I was already Hokage and was attending the birthday party of your uncle Genma."

Kakashi could still vividly remember the discomfort he felt on that night, since big parties or parties, in general, were never his thing, and Genma practically invited half of the village. He tried to escape several times, but his kind friends always made it impossible for him to do so.

At least there was one person attending who constantly made him feel at ease in these situations. While he was eager to just be by her side the moment she appeared, he did not want to crowd her. He only watched her from the distance, in the beginning, awing at how beautiful she looked that night.

"She was attending the party as well."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes, we talked throughout the night."

After he had a few drinks of course. It was ridiculous how he was acting, up until a few months ago he had no problem with casually approaching her and holding up a conversation. But for whatever reason Kakashi recently started feeling all kinds of strange things when he was interacting with her. These feelings started unnerving him since he was quite sure about what they meant. Recently he tried to distance himself from her, knowing far too well that his feelings towards her were more serious, but felt unable to do so, he was drawn to her company like a magnet. So, in order to numb all these annoying feelings and still have a normal conversation with her, he needed some liquid courage. Although they didn't really help him.

"The party started to reach its climax." Kakashi continued his story. "Your uncle Genma and Gai were quite plastered. They thought that it would be absolutely necessary to have a daring contest with me." Susumu leaned forward in his seat, all too eager to hear what happened next.

"I had to drink an entire bottle of cactus wine in one go."

His son paled. "But that's…"

"Suicide, I know. I knew back then as well, but I still did it. After all, I wanted to impress her."

In retrospective, this was probably the stupidest thing he had ever done. He acted like a stupid teenager, who thought that the girl he wanted to show off to would swoon at such kind of achievement. Well, it was really true that you did the stupidest things when you had a crush on someone.

"And?"

"I drank the whole bottle in half a minute." Kakashi couldn't help but feel a slight bout of pride at the amazed look on his son. "At first it seemed like everything was okay. But then when I wanted to walk away my legs became jelly-like, and then the world started spinning uncontrollably."

Kakashi could still vividly recall those few seconds. How he had no command over the movement of his whole body, the people around him becoming blurs and then finally her screaming his name before he blacked out completely.

"When I came to I had my head in her lap, her hands emitting green chakra. Apparently, I passed out and had a slight concussion." Susumu winced at that.

Kakashi wanted nothing more than to be swallowed up by the earth when he regained consciousness and remembered what happened. This was absolutely not how he wanted things to turn out. On the other hand, it was quite nice to be this close to her.

"She scolded me for acting the way I did, giving me a detailed lecture about how dangerous it is for someone to drink that much alcohol at once." Kakashi chuckled, remembering how hard it was for him to pay attention to what she said with the searing headache he had.

"Wait." The teen in front of him narrowed his eyes. "That girl was mom?"

"Of course. She's the only one who has such power over me that I can make a fool out of myself." He looked down into his bowl, noting with dismay that the noodles have already become soggy. "And despite all of that I still managed to marry her." Kakashi stood up from his seat and grabbed the dish. "Which brings us to the conclusion that you still have a chance with Himawari-chan."

He couldn't help but grin at the baffled look his son sported right then. "H-how did you know?"

"I have my ways." He ruffled Susumu's silver hair as he walked past him, leaving the shocked teen behind in their dining room.


End file.
